Values

We are thought leaders in placeshaping

Our placeshaping ethics is based on custodianship, not ownership. We strive to conserve, improve and celebrate the places entrusted to us for all living beings.

Unique attributes and desired future characteristics of places inspire and guide our design thinking.

To enhance the quantitative conditions and experiential qualities of places, we deeply examine and digitally map the environmental effects of our proposal.

We lead design processes with a collaborative spirit. We coordinate and integrate the work of multiple disciplines to develop robust, sensitive, evidence-based designs.

Equipped with a deep understanding of the forces that shape environmental change, we draw on the wisdom of Traditional Custodians and their knowledge in planning, urban design, architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, finance, development, politics and the media to guide design aspirations.

Examples of placeshaping projects by Tzannes include Central Park, Darling Square, Opera Residences and Martin Place Metro Precinct.

Central Park occupies a former 6.7-hectare industrial property near Sydney’s Central Station. The new mixed-use precinct commenced redevelopment in 2003 and is scheduled to be completed in 2022. The masterplan by Tzannes and Cox Richardson is globally recognised for design excellence. It demonstrates how high-density living, with a network of pedestrian-focused streets and laneways, can create a desirable and sustainable new neighbourhood. At the heart of the precinct is a new public park and a historic building imaginatively transformed to include a tri-generation energy plant. This energy supply is designed to serve 255,000 square metres of development plus adjoining university buildings, and will decarbonise the atmosphere by an estimated 180,000 tonnes of CO2 over 25 years of operation.

Our architecture at Darling Square completes another new commercial and residential precinct. Designed to enhance the pedestrian experience through a new laneway network and community square, the materials, variety of detail, texture, form and proportion create an emotionally engaging experience. The character of the architecture is hyper-local, reflecting the historic brick architecture in the wider precinct and conceived to not be transferable to any other place.

Opera Residences, at the southeast corner of Circular Quay, activates a previously underutilised area of the waterfront. A new public stair between Circular Quay and Macquarie Street to the Botanic Gardens links three levels of retail/hospitality use. The existing eastern colonnade to the Sydney Opera House is extended to complete the pedestrian experience at Circular Quay. The architecture changes to reflect the unique and varying urban conditions at the Cahill Expressway, Macquarie Street and Circular Quay, with the form created through a seamless transition of stone, concrete and glass. A dramatic structural expression of the soffit reinterprets Utzon’s contribution to the architecture of Sydney.

Photograph looking through the public through-site link with sculptural concrete soffit in Opera Residence designed by Tzannes

Today, the ongoing redevelopment of the Martin Place Metro Precinct is underpinned by Tzannes’ urban principles and new development standards. A new commercial building over the southern portal of the metro station at 39 Martin Place is also designed by Tzannes to be in conversation with the historic building opposite, creating a special character and destination on Martin Place between Elizabeth and Castlereagh Streets.

Notes

Image Credits:
Ethan Rohloff (Central Park Masterplan)
Ben Guthrie (Darling Square)
Martin Siegner (Darling Square)
Martin Mischkulnig (Opera Residence)